The Second Star
by mobrienluv
Summary: What do you do when your wife is kidnapped by your past enemies because they want you to lead them somewhere that could endanger everyone? Just ask James Hawkins as he faces his old foes in a new adventure to keep his family safe.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Mr. Gibbs came back on deck from the longboat, holding onto his new prize like it was a small child. "What did ye' find Gibbs?" asked Captain Barbossa, on behalf of the rest of the crew. Gibbs could tell that they were not pleased with his new map the way he was, but he reminded himself that he was the one who found it, so he let their angry glances pass over him like a quiet wave.

"This," Gibbs replied proudly, "is a map." The crew started to murmur and Gibbs knew where this was going, yet he didn't care.

"Where to, Gibbs?" a crew member asked.

"The Fountain of Youth." Barbossa confirmed as he made his way toward the captain's quarters. He looked down on his men and proclaimed loudly, "The Fountain, as you all know, has been our destination since the beginning of this journey. Now, we have the right map and we can now head in the right direction." He took the map from Gibbs, held it up and uncovered what was underneath it's protective cloth. It was a geometric shape, covered in gold, which had ancient markings all around it. Barbossa's smile faded as he tried to open it with no luck.

The captain looked back at the crew, their eyes fuming with rage. "Now look, all we need is a way to open the map. Does anyone know of someone in this galaxy that can open strange contraptions like this?" he said cautiously.

The crew started to whisper amongst themselves. Barbossa then zeroed in on the group of aliens that he had picked up after they broke out of a jail on the planet Montressor. They seemed to be arguing about telling Barbossa about someone. "You there!" he called, grabbing their attention. "Do you know of any man, boy, woman, or alien that can help us?"

A spider like alien with bright yellow eyes and red pinching claws stepped forward with a sneer on his face. "Yes, Captain Barbossa," he said.

"What is the name I need?"

"His name is James Hawkins, Captain," the spider said with an evil smile.

"Hawkins," Barbossa said to himself. "Well, where can we find Mr. Hawkins?"

The spider grinned again. "You can find the boy on Montressor, sir."

Barbossa smiled as evilly as the spider as he looked to the rest of the crew. "Well you heard him lads! Steer for Montressor!" Barbossa then went into his private quarters to enjoy his secret stash of rum.

The group of aliens from before met again on the deck. "Why'd you tell the captain about Hawkins, Scroop?" asked the eight eyed alien that was no taller than three feet.

Scroop laughed an evil laugh to the others. "Revenge, my friends. I want revenge on that Hawkins boy if it's the last thing I do."


	2. Chapter 1: Homecoming

Chapter 1: Homecoming

"We're home!" Jim called into the entrance of the Benbow Inn.

"Jim, a little help?" Alice called from outside, carrying two huge suitcases.

"Sorry honey," he apologized, taking hold of both suitcases with ease. His wife smiled. They walked into the inn at the exact moment Jim's mother walked around the corner with trays of food. Her face lit up when she saw the couple. She set down the trays and ran over to hug her son and her new daughter-in-law. When she finally broke both hugs, she said, "I wasn't expecting you two home so soon."

Jim laughed. "We've been gone for two whole weeks, Mom."

Sarah looked surprised. "Has it really been that long? I guess time does work in mysterious ways." They all started to laugh at the inside joke of the family. Just then, B.E.N. came out of the kitchen screaming and flailing is robotic arms in the air.

"B.E.N. what's wrong?" Jim asked as he took hold of the robot to calm him down.

"That crazy cyborg is going to kill me Jimmy!" he replied, panicked.

"Cyborg?" Then it clicked. "Silver!" Jim dropped the bags and ran into the kitchen hoping that the rumor was true. It was. Silver stood at the stove, his back to Jim. He was wearing a long dirty apron over his old baggy clothes that covered his robotic leg. Silver's mechanic arm was chopping away at some vegetables when he turned around and saw his old friend.

"Jimbo!" he exclaimed, opening his arms wide for a big hug. Jim gladly gave him a long bear hug.

"What are you doing here, Silver?" he asked curiously.

The half robot smiled. "I missed ye' Jimbo, so I came ter' visit ye', but ye' were still on yer' honeymoon when I got here. So I asked yer' mother if I could help around the inn."

Jim was thrilled. His good friend and father figure that he hadn't seen in five years had come back into his life. "I'm so glad you're here," he said to Silver.

"Me too, Jimbo," Silver smiled. "So when do I get to meet the lass?" Jim blushed and led the half robot out of the kitchen to where his beautiful bride was still talking to his mother.

"Silver," Jim said as he approached the women. "This is my wife, Alice." The brunette looked up and her big, blue eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"You're John Silver! It's so nice to finally meet you! I've read so many great things about you and Jim has told me about your adventures. Wow this is so exciting!" she exclaimed, excitedly shaking the cyborge's normal hand.

Silver looked at Jim frightened. Jim laughed and explained, "Alice has read things about us because she's from the future. Two years ago, I came across another one of those portals, but it was a time portal. When I went through it, I met Alice and asked her if she wanted to come back to our time and she agreed. We've been together ever since." He smiled as he put his arm around his wife.

Silver looked at Jim confused. "If she's from the future, wouldn't that mess up the whole time space continuum or something of that nature?"

Jim was quick to answer, "We fixed that a few days after she got here. We had to go to Father Time to ask for his help. It's kind of a long story, but in the end, the universe was on our side and let us be together."

Silver smiled happily at the couple. "Well that's just the cutest darned thing I ever did hear." Just then, smoke started coming from the kitchen. Silver ran back into the kitchen and called for B.E.N. to help him.

"I don't want to go back in there Jimmy," the robot begged. "He almost chopped my whole arm off no more than five minutes ago!"

Jim chuckled. "You'll be fine B.E.N." He patted the robot's back and turned back to his wife. "We should probably go unpack now so we can eat dinner before it gets cold." She nodded in agreement as they headed upstairs for Jim's old room.

As soon as they walked into the old bedroom, a pink blob was licking their faces and squealing with delight. Jim propped their bags on the bed and took hold of the blob with his hands. "I missed you, Morph!"

Morph chirped, "Me too! Me too!" and then squirmed over to play with Alice.

She laughed and said, "I missed you too, Morph." Morph seemed satisfied and went back to Jim's shoulder.

"You haven't been causing trouble while we've been gone have you?" Jim asked.

Morph giggled and chirped as he communicated the kind of mischief that he had participated in.

"You put _what_ in Silver's soup?" Alice persisted.

Morph transformed, showing them that he put B.E.N.'s old oil in Silver's soup. Jim laughed out loud and Alice gave him a look that shut him up.

"Morph, that was not very nice. Did you apologize to Silver?" Alice said to the blob. Morph looked down and shook his head. "Well then go say you're sorry. And don't do it again, okay?"

Morph chirped and floated out the door. "Oh come on, that was pretty funny," Jim said chuckling.

Alice looked back at him frowning, but then started to laugh as well. "Okay, okay it was a little funny," she said as she kissed his cheek. She then went over to the bed and started to unpack her things. Jim couldn't help but notice her pink, silk nightgown that she had worn a few times on the trip.

"Did I ever tell you how great that nightgown looks on you?" he flirted.

She blushed and replied playfully, "No, actually, you never did even though I wore it five times." She put it in what was now her dresser and continued to unpack. Jim got up and hugged her behind her waist, putting his head on her shoulder.

"I was a little distracted," he said as he kissed her neck.

"Jim," she giggled. "Do you want a cold dinner?" she reminded him.

He sighed, "No." He then started unpacking his bag as well.

When they walked down the stairs, they were greeted by a few more familiar faces.

"Hello there Jim!" Dr. Doppler waved. "Alice, you look lovely, as always," he commented.

Alice smiled, "Thank you, Doctor."

"Hey Doc.," Jim responded with a grin. He was glad to see his old friend. Amelia than walked up with her four toddlers, who were running around the room. As soon as they saw Alice, they rushed into her arms.

"Alice!" they screamed, "We missed you!"

Alice laughed and replied, "I missed you too, little ones." Jim smiled as he watched Alice play with the children. He walked over to the table with the doctor and his wife.

"So how was the honeymoon?" the doctor asked with a wink.

Jim laughed and replied, "It was amazing."

Amelia then jumped into the conversation. "Well you won't have to unpack anytime soon."

Jim looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

She answered his question quickly. "You are to report to the I.S.U. tomorrow for your first assignment. They are in need of a great captain for this mission, so I recommended you. I know that new graduates are supposed to wait a year before they are supposed to sail, but you are an exception since you have the most experience sailing through space."

Jim thought to himself for a moment. This is the chance he had been waiting for ever since he had graduated from the academy three months ago. He then looked at his wife, who had overheard the conversation. 'How long will you be gone?' was the question on her face.

'I don't know,' was his silent reply. He turned back to his former captain. "How long until I leave?"

She responded as if she had planned the conversation in her head. "You will report tomorrow morning at ten o'clock. They will give you the papers needed to organize your ship and crew. You will leave in approximately one week, if everything goes smoothly."

Jim turned to look at Alice again, but she was already sitting next to him, leaving Morph to play with the children. "How long will he be gone?" she asked, hoping to finally get an answer.

"The I.S.U. is estimating around four to six months," Amelia replied.

Jim took Alice's hand, "We'll be okay for that long right?" She smiled sadly and nodded, but he could see the pain in her eyes. He knew exactly what she was thinking but he couldn't bring up her family in front of their guests.

As if on cue, Silver and B.E.N. then came out with six steaming plates of different entrees. Sarah followed with four smaller plates of food for the children. The families all sat down and ate their delicious dinners until they were completely stuffed.

A few hours of card games and story telling passed when the doctor and captain had finally left with their sleepy children. Sarah and Silver had each gone up to their rooms after they finished cleaning up. Everyone was asleep in the house except for two people.

"Alice, I can't turn down an assignment like this," Jim said frustrated.

"Couldn't you postpone it for a while?" Alice pleaded.

"Why?"

"You know why!" she almost yelled.

"Alice," Jim sighed. "You have nothing to be afraid of-"

"Nothing to be afraid of?" she started. "Did you forget that my parents died while in space? How I lost everyone I loved because they wanted to sail through space and they never came home? What if you never come home? What if I end up watching you sail away with pirates through the hole in the side of a barrel just like I did with my parents? I can't live through that again! I can barely stand living without them every day and the only thing keeping me alive is you! If you die, I won't be able to live anymore. That's what I'm afraid of, losing you." She sat down in the chair closest to her and wiped her tears.

Jim thought for a moment. How was he going to convince her that he would come back? He knew about the pain that she had gone through, living as an orphan, trying to survive on her own. He thought about his own family and how his mother raised him herself because his father was never there. Even though she wouldn't be raising a child, he still couldn't put her through the pain of losing her husband. "You're not going to lose me," he said.

"You can't guarantee that," she replied, avoiding his eyes.

He knelt down in front of her and lifted her face toward his. "Alice Elizabeth Hawkins," he began with her new full name. "The last two years with you have been the best two years of my life. Before I met you, I thought I had everything I wanted. But when I fell in front of you at that party, I knew right then that you were the one I would spend the rest of my life with. I know that we both have rough pasts, but I promised you from day one that I was going to change all of that for both of us. I'm not breaking that promise anytime soon. The life we have together isn't going to end in the next six months, I can promise you that. I have something to come home to that my father never realized he had. I have my other half that I will love for the rest of eternity waiting for me to return and that is what is going to keep me alive. I swear to you that I will always come home to you, no matter what."

Alice couldn't stop the sobs from escaping as she buried her face in her hands. Jim scooted closer to his bride and gently pulled her hands away from her face. He started to help her wipe away her tears as she concentrated calming herself down. When she finally stopped shaking, Jim felt safe enough to continue.

"Alice," he said as he took her face in his hands, "I love you with all of my heart and I will never leave you alone. I promise." He then kissed her lovingly, tasting the salty tears on her lips. She put her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him while she kissed him back. He moved his hands from her face down to her waist, and in one fluid motion, without breaking the kiss, he bent down, picked her up bridal style and carried her up to their bedroom.


	3. Chapter 2: Surprise Guests

Chapter 2: Surprise Guests

Jim woke up to the light coming in from the old window. He squinted his eyes until they were used to the rays pouring into the room. As soon as he could see again, he looked down at the figure sleeping next to him. Alice was curled up beside him, her bed head worse than usual. She was still fast asleep, and he knew from experience that she wouldn't wake up for at least another hour. He remembered trying to wake her up on the first day of their honeymoon and she was grumpy the rest of the day. 'Definitely not a morning person,' he thought to himself.

He gently moved her black curls away from her face and kissed her forehead. "I love you," he whispered softly. He then got out of bed, put fresh clothes on, and went downstairs to help his mother with breakfast.

Sarah saw her son come downstairs with a smile on his face. "Sleep well?" she asked looking back down at the scrambled eggs still cooking.

"Yeah," he replied while he placed bacon on a pan. "And you?"

Sarah smiled and looked at her son. She had heard about his assignment and knew about him leaving so soon. "I had a dream about you last night."

Jim looked up at his mother. "What about me?" he asked nervously.

"It was about the first time you left with Delbert to go find Treasure Planet, except this time, you never came home." Sarah looked back down at the eggs, stirring as she remembered her dream.

Jim sighed as he flipped the bacon. "Mom, I'm coming back, don't worry. And besides, you and Alice can keep each other company while I'm gone."

Sarah turned the stove off, cooling the eggs down to an acceptable temperature. "Alright fine."

Jim grinned and went back to the bacon.

Alice woke up with Jim already on her mind. She looked around the room hoping to find him, but he wasn't there. 'He's probably cooking something for breakfast,' she thought as she got out of bed. All of the sudden, Alice felt extremely nauseous and she sprinted for the bathroom. After vomiting, she rinsed her mouth with water and cleaned up with her towel. 'What the heck was that?' she thought to herself. She thought about everything that she had eaten the past few days. 'It must have been the sea food from that restaurant Jim took me to the day before we came home,' she concluded. She then decided to get ready for the day.

After she put on her favorite outfit: her light green blouse, with a brown corset, and forest green skirt, she walked over to the mirror to make sure she looked decent. "Oh my…" she said out loud as she took a long look at her mangled black locks. She quickly grabbed her brush and combed through the mess. She then twisted it all into a long braid that went down to the small of her back.

Once she felt presentable, she traveled downstairs, where she smelled eggs and bacon. 'Yum' she thought as she walked into the kitchen to find Jim and his mother cooking. "Good morning," she said.

Jim jumped, not expecting her to be awake yet. "Well you're up earlier than usual," he said as he pulled her in for a hug.

"I smelled food," she joked and gave him a quick kiss.

"Can you set the table, Alice?" Sarah asked busily. "Breakfast is ready and I don't want it to get cold."

Alice smiled, "Of course." She walked over to the cabinet and grabbed four plates, then walked out of the kitchen door to set the table.

When she was out of earshot, Jim started to chuckle to himself.

"What's so funny, Jim?" his mother asked.

He turned to his mother and whispered with a laugh, "Her hair did _not_ look like that this morning."

After breakfast, Jim left to retrieve his assignment papers at the I.S.U. He decided to wear his new captain's uniform to show his appreciation and commitment to his job. The head chairman of the I.S.U., Mr. James Norrington, called Jim into his office.

"Mr. James Hawkins, you have been assigned to a very important mission. A few days ago, the queen of Atlantica was captured by pirates. We need you and a well rounded crew to find the captors and the queen and bring them both here alive. Their fates will be decided for them."

Jim responded excitedly, "Yes sir."

The tall man fixed his wig. "Do you have any questions about your assignment, Mr. Hawkins?"

A question was in fact brewing in Jim's mind. "Why doesn't the king of Atlantica send someone to rescue her? Are we the only planet that can rescue people?"

Norrington shifted in his chair and said seriously, "Atlantica is the home of mer-people, Mr. Hawkins. Therefore the king can not emerge completely out of water or he will die. The same goes for any mermaid or merman. That is why King Triton contacted the I.S.U. to rescue the queen because we can not only survive on land, but we can chase after those pirates in space. Now the king has offered a reward for the rescuer-"

"I don't need a reward, sir," Jim interrupted. "As long as I am paid my usual."

"I see," Norrington said as he took a sip of tea. "So an entire palace full of riches doesn't appeal to you or your family?"

Jim shook his head. His family had everything they needed. Even if treasure would help them a lot, he knew that they were completely content with what they had. "I appreciate the offer, but I will have to decline."

Norrington shuffled through the papers on his desk. "Well then I will let the king know and you can start preparing for your departure immediately." The man handed Jim his paperwork and shook his hand.

"Thank you sir," Jim said as he headed out the door.

A few days had passed and Jim was only a couple more days away from his departure. He and Alice were trying to spend as much time together as possible, but he seemed to become more busy as the week progressed. He had to spend half of his days preparing his crew and ship for the trip. Today, he had been gone almost all day.

Alice was cleaning up the dining room after all of the guests went to their rooms. Sarah and Silver had gone to the market to buy more groceries for the week. B.E.N. had stayed behind to help clean up the house with Alice. Morph was floating around, chirping a sailor song to lighten the mood.

"How much longer do you think he'll be, B.E.N.? I need to tell him something important," Alice asked the robot.

"Not long. Don't worry Alice, Jimmy will be back in no time. Do you mind if I ask what this important information is?" B.E.N. asked.

Alice blushed. "I think I need to tell Jim first, but after I tell him, you'll be the first to know," she assured.

"Alrighty then, he'd better get home soon!" B.E.N. replied excitedly. Morph chirped in agreement and continued his song.

Jim ran to the flower shop, hoping they were still open this late. He was on his way home when he got the idea to surprise Alice with flowers. He was also hoping that they would make up for being late, due to the hover-bus that arrived an hour late.

He reached the shop and to his luck, they were still open. He walked in and looked around, trying to find the right bouquet. He decided to buy a dozen white roses, which were her favorite, then continued his trip home.

Alice and B.E.N. were putting the brooms away and were about to retire to their rooms when they heard a knock on the door. Alice's first thought was that Jim was home, but why would he knock on the door? She hesitated, but eventually, she opened the door. They were in trouble. Pirates were surrounding the porch of the inn, waiting to come in. "Can…can I help you?" she quivered.

A man with a scruffy beard and a beer belly stood at the front of the group. He spoke in a seductive manner, "Hello, beautiful. We hideous chaps are looking for a Mr. James Hawkins. Is he around?"

Alice tried to keep calm. These men were after Jim, but why? What did he do? Why would they be barging into his home like this? What did they want from him? She then realized that she still hadn't answered the pirate's question. "Uh, no, um, he won't be back for a while," she stammered.

The man's face transformed into a grin. "That's a shame. Do you mind if we come in and wait for him?"

Alice knew he didn't believe her. He probably thought that Jim was inside the inn right now, and he wanted to come inside. Even though Jim wasn't there, she was _not_ going to let these pirates into her home. She started to close the door, "Sorry, but the inn is full."

The man stuck his foot in the door before she closed it. "Then we'll just have to make room." At that moment, the band of pirates kicked down the door as Alice jumped out of the way. The first thing that she saw was a chair, so she picked it up to defend herself. A fat alien grabbed her chair and broke it in half, ruining her defensive strategy. She swiftly ran into the kitchen and grabbed two large knives. Unfortunately, she was dealing with pirates, and they all carried swords. She tried to put up a fight, but she didn't last long and ended up weaponless, pinned in a corner.

The crew inched toward her and she felt that she only had one choice to come out of the situation alive. "_Parlay_!" she screamed.

The entire crew groaned. "I swear that I will kill the next person who says _parlay_," the eight eyed alien proclaimed in annoyance.

The beer belly man walked up to Alice and smiled. "I hope you understand the meaning of _parlay_, my dear."

Alice nodded. "You are to take me to your captain and he will decide what to do with me."

"Correct," the man said. "Well, first, I need to know what your name is."

"First, I need to know what you want with Jim," Alice countered.

"I guess I don't need to hide that from you, since you'll either be coming with us, or you'll be dead within the next thirty seconds. Mr. Hawkins is the only person in the galaxy who can open this map, here, so we came to ask for his help."

"You came to kidnap him."

The man glared at the girl. "Well depending on who you are, the captain will reconsider his options."

Alice thought for a moment. She had dealt with pirates before, with her parents, even though she was only a child. She could handle these pirates as long as she knew that Jim was safe. She made up her mind. "I will only answer to the captain."

"Very well then. Gents, tie her up and bring her to the Pearl! We have a trap to set."

Barbossa was growing impatient. "How long does it take to grab the boy and bring him back?" he grumbled to himself. Just then, the crew had returned holding a prisoner. Barbossa walked onto the deck to greet the crew, and their new guest. "Who is this?" he asked as he spotted the girl coming on deck.

"She won't say, but she was guarding the place and when we tried to look around, she fought us and claimed _parlay_ so we had to bring her here to you," Mr. Gibbs replied.

Barbossa walked up to the girl and looked her up and down. She had black hair and lightly tinted skin. Her angry eyes were the color of the sea and her pink lips frowned. Her chin was high signifying that she was unafraid of the pirates, for the time being.

"What's your name miss?" Barbossa asked. Alice could smell his rotten breath and she backed away disgusted.

"My name is Alice Hawkins," she replied proudly. Barbossa scratched his scruffy beard.

"Hawkins," he said thoughtfully. "You know we are searching for a Mr. James Hawkins. You must be part of the family."

Alice stiffened. "You could say that," she replied.

Barbossa turned to the crew. "Well lads, it seems that we have a Hawkins on board the Black Pearl. Maybe the map opening runs in the family," he let out a big chuckle then turned to Mr. Gibbs. "Take her to the brig," he ordered.

"But I-"

"I beg your pardon Miss, but I don't have time to sit around and wait for James. Maybe taking you with us will bring him here instead," Barbossa answered. At that moment, Mr. Gibbs took hold of Alice's arms from behind her back and pushed her along the deck, and down a flight of stairs to a corridor with what looked like jail cells. Gibbs fumbled with his keys but eventually unlocked a cell door and threw the girl inside.

Alice rubbed her wrists and hands, which took the blow of her fall. Not until she was completely alone did she realize how completely frightened she actually was. These pirates kidnapped her to get to Jim. It was a trap. How could she have been so stupid? She wasn't going to face these pirates alone because Jim always came after her, even when she didn't want him to. She should never have opened her mouth and said _parlay_. But if she hadn't, she might be dead on the floor of the Ben bow Inn right now. At least she was still alive. But that didn't guarantee that these pirates would keep it that way for her or Jim. The minute he would come on deck they probably wouldn't have any use for her anymore and kill her right then and there. Then after they find whatever treasure they're after, they'll finish off her husband as well. Tears were staining her cheeks as she thought of these pirates taking Jim's life. She hugged her knees to her chest and prayed that Jim would be safe no matter what he was up against.


	4. Chapter 3: Wasted Flowers

Chapter 3: Wasted Flowers

As the Ben bow Inn came into his view, Jim could see the windows were shattered and the door had been kicked down. Panic struck him as he instantly thought of Alice and his mother and he sprinted to his home. When he entered, he caught sight of the golden robot hiding in the corner of the room. "B.E.N.," he said as he picked the robot off the ground from his shoulders. "What happened?!"

"Jimmy! Jim! Oh my goodness it was terrible! There were pirates that came looking for you, they didn't say why, and Alice and I tried to fight them off but it didn't work. There were too many of them."

Jim set the robot down. "Where's Alice?" He asked scanning the room for his wife, who was no where in sight.

The robot replied frantically, "They took her Jimmy! She was about to be killed when she yelled _parlay_ and they took her. I guess they didn't feel like sticking around because they left shortly after they boarded the ship."

Anger and fear rushed through Jim as he imagined Alice being in the care of bloodthirsty pirates. He set the flowers down, ran upstairs to their room and grabbed his pistol and sword from under his bed. He raced back down to where he left the robot. "B.E.N. I need you to tell me what direction they went and how long ago they left."

"Jimmy I can't let you go! It's a trap!" the robot begged.

"Well I'm walking right into it! Don't argue with me B.E.N.!" he yelled. The robot stopped talking and started calculating on the back of his giant compass.

"They headed North about ten minutes ago," the robot finally said.

Jim didn't hesitate. He ran outside, grabbed his solar surfer, and took off full speed in the direction of the ship where his wife was being held captive.

* * *

As Jim's feet slammed onto the deck of the ship, he turned and saw what seemed to be the whole crew ready to pounce on him like giant cats hunting a mouse. Jim braced himself as they charged at him. The brawl lasted a good ten minutes until the captain walked on deck. "What the devil are you brutes up to now?" he asked angrily as he marched over to where the fight was.

The eight eyed alien stepped forward. "We have a visitor Mr. Barbossa Sir," he said as he saluted the captain.

The crew pushed Jim down in the kneeling position in front of the captain. "What's your name, Mr. Visitor?" Barbossa teased. Jim looked up at the captain in disgust and spit in his face. Barbossa jumped back and wiped the spit off with his sleeve. "I see. Maybe a night in the brig will remind you. Seems we'll have two prisoners tonight lads!" Barbossa chuckled and walked back to his quarters.

Two familiar aliens took hold of Jim's arms from behind him and led him down to the brig. Jim couldn't see very well, due to his now swollen eye and lack of light. He was thrown into a cell, and yelped in pain when landing on his now dislocated shoulder. When the aliens left him alone, he looked himself over the best he could with his good eye. Not too much damage (that he could see anyway). Aside from the black eye and dislocated shoulder, he only had a huge headache. He shifted and scooted himself toward the wall of the cell and leaned his back against it.

"Jim?" said the voice-that-Jim-really-wanted-to-hear. "Jim is that you?"

"Alice!" he cried as his heart raced. "Alice, where are you?" he asked since he could barely see his hand that he was holding not a foot away from his face.

"I'm over here, love," she said to his left. He turned and saw her silhouette behind the bars dividing their cells. Relieve poured through his whole body as he saw that she wasn't hurt. He crawled over to her, trying not to let her see how badly he was hurt. "Oh my gosh, Jim! What happened to you?" she cried as she reached her hand through the bars and stroked his face.

He reached up slowly and touched her hand with his. "The crew doesn't like me too much," he replied with a light chuckle.

Alice grabbed his face and turned it toward her so that she could see the damage. His left eye was swollen and bruised. He had scratches and cuts all over his face and neck. He was holding onto his right shoulder which looked out of place and he didn't look like he could breathe easily. She put her hand to his ribs and applied slight pressure to see if his ribs were broken. He only winced after a couple times of her doing this. "Aside from your obvious injuries, you might have a few bruised ribs, love," she told him as she released his face and let his relax against the bars of the cell. "I'm so sorry, Jim."

Jim looked up at this statement. "What are you sorry for?" he demanded.

Alice looked down, ashamed of herself. "Those pirates came looking for you and I didn't know what to do so I claimed _parlay_ which put us in this situation. Not only are we locked up with no way out of this alive, look at you! You're all broken and bruised and it's all my fault."

Jim reached up with his good arm and tenderly stroked her cheek. "It's not your fault, Alice. They would've found me and taken me away anyway. Pirates don't give up easily. And if you hadn't said _parlay_, I would have found you dead at the inn. I don't care that I'm bruised and hurt. You're alive and with me. That's all I care about." He gently wiped a tear that had escaped and trailed down her cheek with his thumb. "These wounds can heal. Before you know it, I'll be back to normal. If you were dead, I don't think I could ever recover from that. You did the right thing Alice. At least for me. So I want you to know that I'm grateful that you didn't make the wrong decision and take my one true love away from me forever. I just had to go find her again."

Alice laughed as she remembered their earlier adventures that happened a couple years earlier. "I love you, Jim," she whispered as she kissed him through the bars.

"I know, Alice," he replied as he kissed her back.


	5. Chapter 4: More Surprises

Chapter 4: More Surprises

Alice woke up holding her husband's hand through the cell bars. He was still sound asleep and softly snoring. She slowly sat up and gently unwound her fingers from his, trying not to wake him up. She then felt nausea unsettling her stomach. 'This should be fun,' she thought to herself as she ran over to a barrel on the other side of her cell and started to vomit. Alice was starting to get used to waking up before Jim because of this sickness that she was going through. Jim thought she must have the flu, but she knew it was something else.

As she was wiping her face with her apron, a little pink blob came to say hello. "Morph?" she whispered. "Where did you come from?"

Morph then chirped and communicated that he jumped into Jim's pocket before he left and fell asleep without saying 'hi.'

Alice pat Morph's head. "Well I'm sure Jim will be just as happy to see you when he wakes up." Morph chirped again and snuggled up by Alice's neck as she walked back over to Jim, who looked like he could be asleep for a few more hours. She lied down next to the bars separating her from her husband and as soon as she shut her eyes again, she fell asleep.

Jim finally woke up with his shoulder in agonizing pain. Alice was able to relocate it the night before, but it was still very painful. He could finally see out of his left eye and looked through the bars to see Alice curled up next to them, her hair was messy as usual. He smiled as he reached through and moved some of the curls away from her face. He studied her face for a while, realizing that to him, there was nothing imperfect about it. He stroked her cheek softly and her eyes fluttered open slowly.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," he teased.

"Ha ha very funny," she replied rolling her eyes.

"Well it's true," he said as he chuckled at her annoyance.

Alice stuck her tongue out at him like a child and then laughed with him. Then, nausea struck her stomach again and she ran over to the barrel and threw up. Jim sat up and watched, horrified, and wondered why she was so sick.

"So I take it the flu hasn't gone away yet?" he concluded as she returned and sat in front of him. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve and rested her head against the cold, metal bars.

Before she could answer, voices came from the stairs leading up to the deck. "Why do we have to get him?" one of the voices asked the other. As they got closer, Jim recognized them as the same aliens that he had sailed with on his journey to Treasure Planet.

"Because those were the captain's orders," the bigger alien answered. The two pirates unlocked the door of Jim's cell and took both his arms to drag him away.

"Where are you taking me?" Jim asked angrily.

"The captain wants a word with you, Hawkins," the smaller alien answered with an evil grin. Jim looked over to Alice who was petrified at the scene. 'I'll be fine,' he mouthed to her to calm her down, but that didn't stop her from feeling like her heart was being ripped out as he ascended up the stairs with the aliens.

Jim was drug up to the captain's quarters where Barbossa was patiently waiting. Jim looked around the cabin. The captain sat with his legs propped on top of a huge wooden desk which was covered with various maps and other devices. There were shelves decorated with books and trinkets from different planets that covered the entire back wall. There was a closed door on the left side of the room that Jim could tell was locked. When the wooden door closed behind Jim, the captain sat up. "Ah, well, Mr. Hawkins, I hope your stay here has been comfortable so far?"

Jim snickered at the captain. "Hardly," he replied.

Barbossa chuckled evilly. "Well that's unfortunate. Did you become reacquainted with our other prisoner last night?"

"As a matter of fact, I did, and I appreciate the fact that you didn't harm her," he said.

"Well I'm glad you're satisfied. Maybe that will make this easier then," Barbossa suggested.

"What do you mean?" Jim asked.

Barbossa smiled and stood up so that he could walk around the room as he explained his plan. He picked up a round object covered in a small brown cloth from one of the shelves and played with it in his hands. "You were recommended out of everyone in the universe to open this here map, since no one on this ship is smart enough to uncover it."

"Where is the map supposed to lead you?"

Barbossa grinned evilly as he walked toward Jim with the map. He held the map up to Jim's face as he answered, "The Fountain of Youth."

Jim laughed. "You can't be serious."

Barbossa stood up confused.

"I beg your pardon, captain, but The Fountain of Youth doesn't exist. And even if it did, legend says that it only reveals itself to those who are worthy of it. And I apologize but correct me if I'm wrong, your crew doesn't seem like they received an invitation."

Barbossa glared at the boy. "I don't need an invitation, Hawkins, I just need a heading. So you're going to open this map and tell me where to go or else our other prisoner won't be walking for a while."

Jim's heart dropped to his stomach as he pictured Alice being tortured and taken advantage of. There was no way in hell that he was going to let anyone get near enough to touch her. He stared back at Barbossa and took the map from him. Jim opened the cloth and revealed the golden map that was very similar to the map that led him to Treasure Planet. He opened it in less than fifteen seconds and showed the captain where to go.

"That's more like it, Hawkins," Barbossa said. "I'm afraid you are going to remain on this ship until we arrive, since you can lead us in the right direction."

"What about my wife? You don't need her anymore. Can't you let her go home?" Jim asked.

Barbossa turned to look him in the eye. "I am disinclined to acquiesce your request, Mr. Hawkins."

"What?" Jim asked confused at the captain's choice of words.

The Barbossa stepped closer, "Means no. She is a great deal of leverage to get you to give me what I want so she stays."

Jim was furious. "You can't-"

"I can do whatever I want to do, boy! I don't care what it takes, you will open this map for me and if I have to kill someone to get you to do it, I will do it!" Barbossa shouted. He stood up and brushed off his hat. "Now if you please, Mr. Hawkins, my crew needs to know where we are going. You will be returning to the brig with your wife. Enjoy your last few days with her, they might be the last you'll ever have."

Alice paced around her small cell as she waited for Jim to return. She thought of different scenarios of what could be happening in the captains quarters. Earlier, she could've sworn she had heard a gun shot. 'Calm down,' she told herself. 'You're just imagining things. He's probably fine.'

Alice didn't even realize that she almost stepped on a little pink blob. "Morph! Oh I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?" she panicked. Morph communicated that he was okay and rested lazily on her shoulder. "Okay, good," she said as she pat his little head. She sighed and sat down and rested her head against the cool metal of the cell bars. Her deep breathing seemed to calm her down and she felt somewhat better after a few minutes of this.

"Would you cut it out?" she heard Jim say to one of the aliens who was poking him with a gun as they walked down the stairs. Alice watched anxiously as they pushed her husband around, begging for it to stop. To her surprise, they passed his cell and opened the door to hers then threw Jim inside. Alice hurried over to Jim to make sure he was alright.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Jim waited until the ugly aliens left to answer. "No, I'm not okay," he said as he sat up and rubbed his shoulder. "The captain is a total a-"

"Hey, watch your sailor mouth," she interrupted.

Jim chuckled slightly at her order. "Well, it's true! He won't let either of us leave and he threatened to hurt you multiple times if I didn't give him what he wanted."

"What did he want?"

"He wanted a heading. You'll never believe where we're going," he told her.

Alice suddenly felt very nervous. "Where?" she asked.

"These pirates are after The Fountain of Youth. Do you know what planet that's on?" Alice shook her head. "We're going back to Never land."

Alice's face turned pale. "What!?" she gasped. "We promised to never go back there. We could be gone for much longer than a few days. You know how that planet works!"

"I know, I know-"

"How long do you think it will take?" Alice asked worried.

"Alice, calm down. I don't think it will take that long. Probably a year at the most," he replied.

"Jim," she said, her face completely frightened. "I can't stay on this ship that long."

Jim started to worry at the sight of her being so scared. "Why not?"

Alice took a deep breath and sat down in front of her husband. She took both of his hands in hers and looked him in the eyes. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"What?" Jim asked.

"You know how I've been really sick lately?"

"Yeah. It's the flu, it will go away," he said, more to himself than her.

"No, Jim. It's not the flu," she said.

"What are you saying-"

"I'm pregnant, Jim," she revealed.

It was Jim's turn to throw up in the barrel. When he finished, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and noticed the knot that was still in his stomach. Alice stood up cautiously. "Are you okay?"

Jim ran a shaky hand through his choppy bangs as he flopped down on the floor and leaned his back against the barrel. "Yeah," he said uneasy. "I just wasn't expecting that. How long have you known about this?"

Alice walked over to sit next to him. "I found out the morning after we got back from the honeymoon," she replied staring at her hands.

Jim thought to himself for a moment. "Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked.

"I didn't know how you would react and I wanted to make sure that it wasn't a false alarm. When I confirmed it, I planned on telling you last night, but I never got the chance," she said.

Jim took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I'm going to be a father," he whispered to himself.

Alice didn't say anything. She knew he wanted time to think about them having a baby. There wasn't any way to change it, but she knew that he needed to get used to the idea of being a parent. She took his hand in hers and sat in silence, hoping that he wasn't too upset.

Jim wouldn't look at her. So many things were going on in his mind. He was only twenty years old and he was going to be a father. He thought about Alice and how she was only nineteen. They were too young to be parents. 'Well it's too late to avoid that now,' he thought to himself. Jim then remembered the way that Alice played with the Doppler's children. He also thought about the stories of her and her siblings going on adventures before they were separated. He knew she was capable of raising a child, but was he? He thought about his father and the pain that he and his mother went through for so many years. He wouldn't abandon Alice, even if being a parent would be hard. He was not going to leave his family.

"Alice," he said, destroying the silence that Alice was getting anxious from.

"Yes?" she replied timidly.

Jim took a deep breath as he tried to find the right words to say.

"You're not happy are you?" she said, looking down.

"I am happy Alice," he reassured. He pulled her chin up with his hand so that he could look into her deep, blue eyes. "Look, it just scares me that we are going to be parents at such a young age. But I'm not going to leave you to raise our child by yourself. I'm not going to turn into my father and abandon our family. That is the worst thing I could possibly do and I would never forgive myself. You and this little surprise," he said pointing to her tummy, "are the most important things in my life and I'm not going to let my selfishness ruin that."

Alice didn't say anything due to her mouth being stuck in a permanent smile across her face. Random tears streamed down her face and Jim quickly wiped them away.

"Alice, what's wrong?" he asked, since she wasn't responding.

Alice started laughing. "I love you!" she finally said as she grabbed his face and kissed him. He returned the kiss after he regained his balance and held her close to him.

"I love you too, Alice," he managed to say in between kisses.

"I know," she replied. Suddenly, the pink shape shifter started chirping to get their attention.

"Morph?" Jim asked, not expecting to see the little guy. "What are you doing here?" It was then that Jim remembered where they were and their current situation. Alice couldn't stay here. She needed to go home, even if he wouldn't be going with her yet. Morph had answered him, but he was too busy thinking of how she could escape. They were locked in a cell, with no way out except for the keys that those hideous aliens kept in the folds of their bellies. Even if they could get out, it would be chaos on deck with the entire crew noticing their appearance. Then there was Barbossa. Jim knew that if they even attempted anything and got caught, Alice would pay the price. They had to be super careful.

"We need to figure out a way for you to get out of here," he said still in deep thought.

"I know, but that's kind of hard to do when we're locked up," she replied bluntly.

Just then, the same aliens came down the steps with a new prisoner. "The captain don't like stowaways Jack," the fat one said to the prisoner. They opened the cell door across from the couple's cell and threw the man in it.

"I was just observing the captain's way of using my ship," Jack replied. From what Jim could see, the man had long black dread locks with different trinkets hanging all around them and a goatee. He wore a red bandana and aside from his gold ones, the majority of his teeth were rotting away. He had layers of clothes on and Jim could see the man's hidden pistol in his shirt.

"Well the captain don't like observe- uh- ing- uh- ers?"

"Don't hurt yourself," Jack said. The alien gave him a threatening look and then followed his accomplice out of the brig.

Neither Jim or Alice said anything. They were too busy watching the mysterious man look around his cell with a smile on his face. Why was he so happy? Jack noticed them staring and cleared his throat.

"The name's Sparrow. _Captain_ Jack Sparrow."


	6. Chapter 5: Making Deals

Chapter 5: Making Deals

"So you need my help?" Jack asked trying to understand their predicament.

"If you can help us, that'd be great. But I get it if you can't," Jim said. The couple waited for the strange man to reply. Jack just sat there and thought to himself. Neither of them knew what was going on in his mind.

"I can help," he said.

"Oh that's great-"

"If!" Jack interrupted. "You help me get my ship back."

"I knew there would be a catch," Jim said under his breath. He spoke louder for the man to hear, "Alright. Deal."

"So Barbossa is leading this rotten band of cutthroats to The Fountain of Youth," Jack clarified. "There's a mermaid on this ship."

"What?" Jim asked, wondering if he heard the man correctly.

"A mermaid lad. One of those sea creatures that looks human and has a scaly tail. They have unimaginable powers. But if you're going to the Fountain, you need a mermaid's tear to conjure the magic."

"What else do you need?" Alice asked curiously.

"I'm not sure," Jack replied. "but hopefully I'll have my ship back before we arrive."

Jim thought to himself. Where would Barbossa be hiding a mermaid on deck. Then it clicked. In the captain's quarters, there was the locked door that Barbossa stood in front of when Jim visited him that morning. The mermaid must be in there. "I think I know where the mermaid is," he said.

"Where?" Alice asked, somewhat confused.

"In the captain's quarters, Barbossa was guarding a locked door. I don't know for sure, but I have a hunch that the mermaid is in there."

"There's your way out of here, lass."

"One question," Alice interrupted.

"Yes?" Jim said.

"How in the world are you going to get up there without getting caught?"

"Okay, Morph, I could really use a key right now," Jim said to the pink blob, who was excited to be part of the plan. He transformed himself into the perfect size key to open their cells. Jim unlocked them quietly and he and Jack traveled swiftly up the steps. Alice told them she'd stay behind so that if someone asked, she would say that they had to use the john.

Jim's head slowly turned as he scanned the deck for crew members. It was late, so hopefully, most of them were sleeping. "Okay, coast is clear," he whispered to his partner. They stealthily crept across the deck, pistols ready for any attacker. Jim felt the adrenaline pumping through him with each step he took. They quickly moved up the stairs to the captain's quarters and cracked the door open, hoping that Barbossa wasn't in his study. From what Jim could see, there was only a few candles on the desk and Barbossa's hat was lying defenseless next to them. Jim took a deep breath and motioned to Jack that it was safe. They proceeded into to cabin, ready to defend themselves.

As they investigated the room, Jim almost jumped to the ceiling and back when he almost stepped on the sleeping captain. Barbossa was lying on the ground, drunk, most likely, and fast asleep. He was holding a bottle of rum close to him as he snored. Jack eyed the bottle with envy and thought of different ways of retrieving it without waking up the captain.

Jim walked over to the locked door on the left side of the cabin. He could see a bright glow of some sort coming through the cracks in the door. "Morph," Jim whispered. Morph materialized from Jim's pocket and turned into another key. Jim unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Alice waited patiently for the men to return. She had been drawing pictures in the mud on the ground when she heard some unfamiliar steps walking down into the brig. She turned and saw a giant spider-like alien with bright eyes coming toward her, pinching his claws. She recognized him from Jim's stories and her history books. "You're Daniel Scroop," she said softly.

"That's Mr. Scroop to you, Sweetheart," he replied, looking annoyed.

Alice was confused and frightened at the sight of the freaky alien, whom Jim had supposedly killed. "You're supposed to be dead," she choked as she backed away from the alien. The cell walls were still dividing them, but she felt safer the farther she was from this creep.

"Yes, I am. Fortunately, this ship happened to be sailing by when I was floating off into space and Barbossa agreed to let me be part of the crew," he explained.

Alice's heart raced as the alien broke the lock of her cell door with one of his red claws. She needed to distract him. "Why haven't you shown yourself all these years? Why now?" she asked.

The alien entered her cell and closed the door behind him. "I've been using my time wisely, plotting my revenge to perfection," he sneered.

Alice kept trying to distract him and keep him talking. "What's your plan?" she asked as she back away even further until she was pinned against the wall.

Scroop smiled evilly as he started to explain. "When I learned that this ship's destination was The Fountain of Youth, I knew what the ritual was to obtaining eternal life. The Fountain requires a mermaid's tear, and a sacrifice. Well, the thought didn't occur to me until the captain needed the boy that he could be used as the sacrifice."

Alice gasped, "Is this why you came here? To tell me that my husband is going to die?" she asked as she held back her tears.

Scroop chuckled darkly as he approached her. "I came to give you a choice. You see, when we arrived at the boy's house, he wasn't there, so we kidnapped you instead, knowing that he would come to rescue you. Well this made my plan much more exciting. All you need to know is that one of you will be used as the sacrifice, but that's up to you to decide who it will be." Scroop then picked Alice up by her neck with his claw and pushed her against the wall. He then whispered in her ear, "So choose wisely my dear. Either way, I get my revenge." He then let go of her and she fell to the ground choking. He then crept out of the cell and up the stairs quietly, leaving Alice more frightened than ever before.

As Jim entered to mysterious room, he closed the door behind him, hoping that the light didn't wake up the captain. Jack was staying by Barbossa to make sure that he stayed asleep.

Jim walked slowly through the room toward the glowing object that was shielded behind a few crates. He slowly climbed over them trying not to make a sound until he saw it.

A tank that was about three feet tall and ten feet wide, was almost full of water. Inside, was just what Jim and Jack had suspected. A mermaid. The glow was coming from her finger tips as she waved them around distractedly doing some magic. She hadn't seen her visitor yet since her back was turned to him.

Jim cleared his throat and the mermaid turned around and the glow disappeared, leaving them in darkness. "Who are you?!" she gasped, not expecting to see anyone.

"Shhh! Do you want Barbossa to wake up?" he whispered trying to calm her down.

She waved her hands and they started to glow again so that they could see each other. Jim was shocked. Aside from Alice, this mermaid was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Jim could tell that she was about ten years older than him due to the strands of grey hair that were hiding amongst the rest of her fiery red locks. Her skin was pale and appeared flawless against the glow of the magic. Jim had to breathe deeply a few times to focus before he could explain who he was.

"My name is James Hawkins. I work for the I.S.U. My wife and I were kidnapped and I need to find a way to get her home."

The mermaid still seemed unsure. "Why did you come to me?"

"I was told that mermaids have special powers and I was wondering if yours would be any help to us."

"Well, I'm not just any mermaid. I'm sure my powers would surpass any other creature's that crossed my path. I wish I could help, but what is in it for me?"

Jim thought about the way she described herself. "You said that you're not just any mermaid. Who are you then?"

The mermaid smiled. "My name is Athena Triton, Queen of Atlantica. My powers are much more potent than any other mermaid in the universe, other than my husband's."

"Oh my gosh," Jim said to himself as he put all of it together. These were the pirates who kidnapped the queen about a week ago because they needed her for The Fountain of Youth. He leaned closer to the glass so that he didn't have to talk so loud after he heard something in the other room. "I was the captain that the I.S.U. hired to rescue you after your husband asked for our help. I was supposed to leave today to come find you, but last night, these pirates kidnapped my wife and I came to get her back."

"That's understandable," the mermaid said.

"I think I know how to fix all of this."

Jim had just finished explaining the plan to Athena when Jack opened the door, holding at least five bottles of rum. "Jim, time to go!" he said as he pointed to the captain who was waking up.

"I'll be back," Jim told the mermaid as he jumped up to leave.

"I'll still be here," she called to him.

Jim bolted out of the door and he and Jack ran out of the captain's private cabin, down the stairs, across the deck, down another flight of stairs, and practically dove back into their cells.

As Jim was trying to catch his breath, he looked over at Alice, who was surprised at the men. "What happened?" she asked as she walked over to her husband.

"Captain Sparrow over here was supposed to keep Barbossa asleep, but he got distracted."

"Well if someone hadn't been yapping up a storm to the mermaid, it wouldn't have taken so long," Jack countered as he opened a bottle of rum.

"There was really a mermaid?" Alice asked excitedly.

"Yes," Jim replied as his breathing slowed. "And she agreed to help get you home if you help get us out of this mess when you get there."

"What do you mean?"

"This mermaid happens to be the Queen of Atlantica, the same mermaid that the I.S.U. was sending me to rescue. This makes things a lot easier for all of us," Jim explained. "She has powers that can teleport you back home. Once you're there, you can go to the I.S.U. and report everything that happened. Tell them that I'm here with the Queen and we need a rescue team."

"How will they know where to find you?"

"They have their ways. Trust me, they'll find me," he reassured.

"Okay," she said. "What about Jack?"

Jim turned to look at his counterpart who was drinking his troubles away. "I think he'll figure something out on his own."

"Jim?" Alice whispered to her husband. It had been a few hours since the men's adventure and Jack had recently passed out drunk in his cell while the couple continued talking. They were laying down in the cell, barely awake when Alice remembered her encounter with Scroop earlier.

"Yeah?" he replied lazily.

"Is there any way that you can teleport back home with me?" she asked.

Jim looked over at his wife and noticed her sad, blue eyes looking up at him. "If I leave, they'll just keep coming after me until they get what they want. I can't put our family through that."

"Would you if someone told you that you were going to die?"

"What?" he asked very concerned. Why was she asking him this? He wasn't going to die, not if he had any say in it. "What are you talking about, Alice?"

Alice sighed as she tried to find the right words. "When you were gone, someone came in and told me what the crew is planning on doing. They explained to me that The Fountain requires a sacrifice and that they were going to use one of us as the sacrifice," the lump in her throat returned as she remembered. "They told me that it was my decision who it would be-"

"Wait a minute. Who is this mystery messenger?" he asked.

"Okay, please don't think that I'm crazy. I am completely serious," she said looking back at him.

"Who is it Alice?" Jim pushed impatiently.

"Scroop. He's alive, Jim."

Jim's stomach twisted as he heard the name. "What? How is that possible? I killed him," he said softly.

"No, you didn't. When he was floating off into space, the Black Pearl flew by and picked him up, agreeing to let him be part of the crew if he could help lead them to The Fountain. He's been planning his revenge this whole time."

Jim soaked all of this new information in. "So Scroop is alive and planning on killing one of us, and he told you that you had to make the decision on who it will be, correct?"

"Yes. That's why I want you to come with me. It can't be either of us. If I wasn't pregnant, I'd sacrifice myself in a heartbeat to save you, but I can't now because putting my life at risk is also putting our child's at risk," she put her face in her hands and groaned in defeat. There was no way out. One of them was going to die, and now that Jim had a say in it, she knew who it was going to be, and she didn't want to live with that. There had to be another way. "I don't know how to fix this. I wish none of this had ever happened and these pirates never came to the inn. Now one of us, or most likely both of us, is going to die and I can't do anything about it." She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. "Why did this happen to us, Jim?" she asked as tears quietly streamed down her cheeks.

Jim sat up and stroked her back. "I don't know, Alice. But I do know that neither one of us is going to die because you are leaving, and I won't let Scroop come near me. I'll come home, okay?," He was getting tired of her worrying. He didn't remember the last time he heard her laugh. What could he do to make her smile again? "I just know that once you're safe at home, I can focus on saving one person, not two and a half," he teased as he started to tickle her tummy to lighten the mood.

'Oh no,' Alice thought. 'The tickle spot.' Why she ever revealed this sacred place to him, she will never know. It was the place where laughter decided to bloom and quickly spread throughout her whole body. She couldn't help it. She had to laugh. "Jim stop!" she whispered as the giggling started. It was getting hard for her to breathe. She tried to fight back to stop him but that only made it worse.

Jim was chuckling as he refused to stop tickling her and she fell onto the floor in silent laughter. The pain from laughing was agonizing and becoming hard to bare. She knew that she wouldn't survive another second of this torture.

"Jim! I…can't…breathe…stop!" she managed to choke out and he finally stopped. He sat back against the cell wall and laughed at her. Alice just lay there, staring at the ceiling, holding her stomach, trying not to laugh. "Ow.." she giggled.

"You should see your face right now," he chuckled.

Alice rolled over, still holding her stomach. "Why would you do that?" she groaned.

Jim laughed as he crawled over to her. "To cheer you up, scaredy-pants," he replied and kissed her hair.

Alice blushed and turned over to see him smiling down at her. "Well it worked," she smiled as she gave him a quick kiss.

"Good," he said, and then sighed. "Everything will be okay, love. I promise."

"Pinky promise?" she said as the held up her smallest finger.

Jim linked his pinkie finger with hers. "Pinky promise," he replied.


	7. Chapter 6: The Plan

Chapter 6: The Plan

"Alright, you ready Alice?" Jim whispered.

Alice nodded and Jim opened the broken cell door. The couple raced up the steps of the brig and onto the deck. Jim checked to make sure no one was on deck and they emerged from below. Alice followed close to Jim's trail as they traveled closer to the captain's cabin. Jim entered the room first, quietly checking his surroundings for any danger, then after giving his wife the signal, they proceeded into the room. The captain was no where in sight.

'Strange,' Jim thought to himself. 'Barbossa's always in here, unless he's patrolling the deck.' He then felt a sudden panic as he realized how quickly their absence could be noticed. "Alice, we need to hurry."

Alice nodded and patted pocket of her apron to let Morph know that it was his turn to help in the plan. Morph immediately transformed into the perfect sized key for Jim to retrieve and use. After they unlocked the door, Jim rushed Alice inside and shut the door behind them.

"Athena-uh-I mean-Your Majesty, it's Jim Hawkins. Are you awake?" Jim stammered as he was unsure about how to address the queen.

"Yes," the mermaid whispered. She then lit up her tank with her magic and completely distracted Alice from the plan.

"Wow!" Alice gaped. "How do you do that?"

Athena laughed lightly. "I am the queen of the mer-people my dear. Magic is kind of necessary for me to do my job."

Alice was consumed entirely of her fascination with the creature. "How do you breathe under water? Do you have gills? Can you talk to fish? Does your skin get all wrinkly under water? How do you urinate? Is your hair always that beautiful under water? Do you eat people? What does your diet consist of? How-"

"Alice! Calm down. I'm sure when you get home," he reminded her, "you can go to the library and research it on your own."

Alice blushed out of embarrassment. "I'm so sorry your majesty. I was just curious."

"I could tell," Athena laughed, partially at herself for being so distraught after all of the girl's questions. After she composed herself again, she realized the task that she would have to perform. It would not be an easy one. "Alright. Let's get you home, shall we?"

Jim and Alice simultaneously nodded, then turned to face each other, both dreading this good bye. Neither of them said a word, they just stared into one another's blue eyes in a dead silence that seemed to go on for ages. 'I love you,' Alice mouthed, her voice unable to escape her throat.

Jim smiled sadly in reply. "I love you too, Alice," he said out loud. He grabbed her by her waist and pulled her into his embrace. He buried his face in her neck, not wanting to let go.

"Oh how touching," said an unwanted voice from the door. The couple jumped and turned to see Barbossa standing by the door, holding a pistol. "Did you really think you could escape my ship without me knowing'?" he said as he loaded his weapon.

Jim pushed Alice behind him as he looked around for a weapon of his own. He grabbed a sword off the floor that was by the mermaid's tank and took his stance. He knew that his sword was no match for a bullet but what other choice did he have?

Barbossa walked slowly toward his opponent and grinned evilly as he knew the odds of the fight. He held up the gun and pulled the trigger.

Jim ducked before the captain even shot at him. The bullet hit some bottles of rum in the back of the room, making glass shatter all along the floor. Jim took no time at all as he stood up and swung at the captain. The captain dodged Jim's attacks and laughed at his attempts, which only angered Jim more. Barbossa then drew his own sword, just to make the match more even. They swords clashed as the duel grew more intense.

While the men were brawling, Alice knew she had to do something to help Jim. She crawled around on the glass covered floor trying to find a useful weapon of her own. She ignored the cuts and gashes that were forming on her hands and knees and focused on helping her husband.

Jim was getting tired. He knew this fight would end soon. It was only a matter of time. Barbossa wasn't even breaking a sweat, not to mention the years of experience he had with the sword. He was now in defense mode, blocking all of the captain's swings. As this continued, Barbossa managed to corner his young opponent, giving him yet another advantage. Jim knew he was going to die soon. He had no way out from the captain's blade. As Barbossa raised his sword for the death blow, something stopped him from succeeding.

Alice smashed the rum bottle on the back of the captain's head just in time. Barbossa fell to the floor unconscious. Alice looked up at Jim, smiling triumphantly. She walked over and gave him another long hug. "Are you alright?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he replied, catching his breath. "Are you?"

"Yes," she laughed. "but we should probably hurry since he could wake up soon."

"Right."

They walked over to the mermaid, who had witnessed the whole battle and was waiting for their quick return. "Jim, I need you to step away."

Jim obeyed and watched as the mermaid started to conjure a now blue light from her fingers. The light twisted its way up out of the tank and entangled his wife. The light grew brighter and brighter and in a flash, both Alice and the light were gone.

Alice woke up on the ground right in front of the Benbow Inn. 'It worked!' she said as she stood up and ran inside the house. "Sarah! Silver! B.E.N.!" she called. In less than thirty seconds, Sarah rushed out from the back and ran over to her daughter-in-law.

"Alice!" she cried as she hugged Alice. "We thought we had lost you! Where's Jim?" she asked, noticing her son's absence.

"He had to stay behind. But we have a plan and I need B.E.N. to help me with it."

At that moment, B.E.N. rolled out of the kitchen with plates of food ready to serve. As soon as he realized what the commotion was about, he dropped the food and ran over to Alice as well. "Alice!" he cheered, as the plates shattered on the ground behind him.

"B.E.N.!" Sarah cried as the plates fell.

B.E.N. looked down and saw the mess that he had just created. "Oops," he said with a sheepish smile. His robot arms quickly cleaned it up as he headed back to the kitchen. He then emerged again, empty handed so that he could hug his friend. "Where's Jimmy?" he asked.

"Jim had to stay behind. B.E.N., I need you to come with me to the I.S.U. We need to tell them information that could save Jim and the Queen of Atlantica."

Jim woke up below deck alone in his cell. His heart was still aching just like it had the previous night when Alice was transported back to the inn. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, still feeling groggy. 'It's fine.' he told himself. 'She knows what to do when she gets home. You'll be with her again soon.' He knew his conscience was right, he just wasn't expecting so much anxiety and heart ache from sending her home. Just then, the pair of aliens that loved snatching prisoners came down to retrieve Jim for the captain.

"Yes captain?" Jim asked as he entered the familiar cabin.

"I need another heading," the captain replied, looking away from the light coming from the door.

"Uh, sir, are you alright?" he asked, noticing the captain's strange behavior. Barbossa was acting like he had no recollection of the events that took place the previous night.

"I'm fine," he said. "Stop yelling at me you piece of bloody trash!"

'Oh,' Jim thought as he pieced it all together. Barbossa was drunk last night. He was so drunk that he didn't remember anything at all. That explained why Barbossa wanted to kill him, since he needed someone to open the map. He was just drunk. He fought amazing for a drunk. Did he even know that Alice was gone? 'I guess we'll find out soon.' He obeyed the captains orders and gave him another heading with the map. He was then brought back down to the brig.

"Why isn't it worth it, Sir?" Alice asked furiously.

Norrington kept his composure as he tried to persuade this young lady of how absurd her suggestion was. "Because, Miss Hawkins, That ship is already a few days ahead of us. By the time we reached it, your husband and the queen will already be dead."

"Wasn't that your mission in the first place? To save the queen? Why would this be any different?" Alice noted.

"It is different because we don't have another captain like James. No one could catch up to that ship even if they tried." Norrington countered.

Alice sighed and looked over at the robot. "What if there was someone who could help you take a short cut?"

"I beg your pardon?"

B.E.N. stood up and unlocked his giant compass from his chest piece. "Sir, with this navigation device that I have, I can tell you exactly where Jimmy is and if we know the coordinates, I can show you a short cut to get there faster."

Norrington sat silent for a moment, contemplating the possible outcomes. After waiting for a few minutes, Alice finally got an answer.


	8. Chapter 7: The Destination

Chapter 7: The Destination

The next couple weeks aboard the Black Pearl went by extremely slow. Every morning, Jim was summoned by the captain to read the map and then sent back below deck. After a few days, Barbossa finally realized that his third prisoner had vanished and took it out on Jim. The scars from the whip were close to being completely healed and he could almost lay down on his back again. He didn't regret his decision. Alice and the rest of his family were safe and that is all that mattered. Well, that and keeping himself and the queen alive. Jim thought of Alice's warning about Scroop and kept his eyes open, but he still had not seen him once. He thought she must've imagined it, but he wasn't ready to let his guard down just yet.

"How much longer until this beauty finds land again?" Jack asked his jail mate.

"We'll probably be there by tomorrow," Jim replied as he used Jack's knife to carve into a piece of wood.

Jack smiled and leaned back against the bars of his cell in silence.

Jim looked over at his acquaintance and wondered what was going on in his head. "So what's your plan, Jack?" he asked, hoping he wasn't a part of it. Even though he did agree to help Jack before, he wasn't in the mood for another whipping if they didn't succeed.

Jack looked up and grinned. "That's for my mind only, Hawkins. You'll find out soon enough."

Jim glanced at Morph, who had been resting on his shoulder, and they shrugged at each other. As long as he wasn't part of Jack's plan, Jim could care less what the old scallywag did.

"B.E.N. where are they?" Alice asked the robot for the umpteenth time over the past few weeks.

B.E.N. checked his navigation device that he was using to track both Jim and the I.S.U. and gave Alice yet another update. "They're close to Jimmy. Judging by their velocity, they should arrive in Never land tomorrow. Then Jimmy will be home before you know it!"

Sarah came over from the stairs to the table where the two were sitting and gave Alice a small, reassuring hug. "They'll bring him back, Sweetie. I know it. And even if they don't, Jim will find a way back home with or without them."

Alice smiled back at her mother-in-law as she watched her walk to the kitchen to cook dinner. Sarah was right. The I.S.U. almost always succeeded on rescue missions. There were only a few instances that resulted in failure but other than that, they were reliable. Jim would come back. She had to believe that, not only for herself, but for everyone else. Besides, stress couldn't be good for the baby. She smiled and looked down at her belly as she thought about what was growing there. "If your daddy doesn't come back soon, Momma's not going to be happy," she whispered. She then joined Sarah in cooking dinner and pushed all of the doubt from her mind.

"Land ho!" Barbossa yelled from bow as he peered through his telescope. The crew cheered and hustled to their stations, preparing to land on the new planet. Jim heard all of the commotion and readied himself to be retrieved again to open the map.

"They should just give you a key, Mate," Jack said jokingly.

"I know right," Jim agreed.

Sure enough, the familiar aliens came down the steps of the brig with the keys to take Jim to the captain. As they took a hold of Jim's arms, more forceful than necessary, Jack took the distraction to his advantage and stealthily swiped the ring of keys from the fat aliens pocket. He waited until the brig was vacated before he unlocked his cell door and snuck onto the deck.

"You there!" Barbossa said, forgetting the alien's name. "Fetch someone else and go get the mermaid out from my cabin."

"Aye, aye!" the alien replied with a salute.

Barbossa then caught sight of one of his prisoners approaching him.

"Hawkins," Barbossa ordered as the ship landed smoothly on the planet. "Lead us to the fountain." He then chucked the map at Jim, which he barely caught, and waited for which direction to go.

Jim opened the map quickly to reveal they're destination. "We need to head west, Captain," he informed. Barbossa then took the map from the boy and shoved it in his pocket.

As the longboat made its way toward the shore of the familiar planet, Jim took notice in what little change had occurred since the last time he had come here. The water on this planet was as crystal clear as ever, revealing the strange creatures that lurked beneath. The white sand on the beach ran all the way up to the vast jungle which contained carious types of plants and animals that he had encountered last time. Just beyond the tops of the palm trees, Jim could just barely spot Father Time's blue castle which was disguised to blend into the sky. He could see it now, since he knew where to look. It took him what seemed years when he had to find it before. He then wondered if Father Time knew that he was there. Probably. He looked up and noticed how fast the sky was changing in the area that they were headed. This triggered the most vital memory of this dangerous planet. In some regions on Never land, time slowed down, and on others, it sped up. No one knows how much time has really passed until they leave the planet. That was what worried Jim the most. How much more time would pass before he would start his journey back home? That is, if he survived.

"Tie 'er up lads," Barbossa ordered as he exited the boat onto the sandy shore. The aliens tied the boat up to a near by tree and then took hold of the mermaid's tank and carried her over to the captain.

Jim followed the oblivious captain as he strut up the beach and into the jungle, clueless of what to expect amongst the trees. About an hour went by before Barbossa made Jim check the map again. They had made several wrong turns and a few of the crew members fell into animal traps or got stung by killer wasps. Jim knew where to avoid these things, and somehow, the captain didn't have any trouble either.

The sky was getting dark when a cannon shot was heard from back in the direction of the ship. "What was that?" Jim asked. Three more shots were heard from that same direction before Barbossa looked around and saw someone missing.

"Where be Jack?" he yelled at the crew. "Who was supposed to fetch Jack Sparrow from the brig?"

The entire crew turned their heads to the pair of aliens that Jim was so familiar with. Barbossa walked slowly up to the idiot creatures. "Why didn't you get him?" he asked as he pulled out his pistol.

"We-uh-we didn't know you meant both of them-uh-Sir," the fat one tried to explain.

"We thought you only meant Jim, Sir," the little one said.

"Oh you did? Why would I let The Black Pearl's former captain be left alone on my ship while the rest of us hiked through this bloody jungle, giving him all the time in the world to take it back?" Barbossa challenged.

"Uh-I don't know, Captain," the taller one said.

"We are sorry, Captain," the short one pleaded.

Barbossa cocked the pistol and raised it up to the idiots. "Well I'm not." He then pulled the trigger twice and both aliens fell to the ground lifeless.

The crew was silent. The only sounds audible were coming from the ship that was a couple miles away. Barbossa put his gun away and turned to face the crew. "The next time one of ye' disobeys my orders, you'll end up like these buffoons."

"Aye, Captain," was heard from every crew member.

"We are going back to the ship," he ordered. No one moved out of fright. "Now!" Barbossa yelled and the entire crew basically sprinted through the jungle back to the beach.

Relief flowed through Jim as he noticed that the cannons weren't coming from The Black Pearl. They were coming from another ship that was pursuing The Pearl. It was The Dauntless. One of the I.S.U.'s ships, the same one that Jim would've been captain on, had this little escapade not happened. He was going to get his life back. Jim turned his attention to The Pearl. He knew that Jack was on it, but he didn't see him anywhere on deck. What was he doing?

All of the sudden, The Dauntless stopped firing at The Pearl and slowly turned, facing it's cannons at the shoreline.

"Take cover!" Barbossa yelled as the cannons were being fired at his crew. Sand was flying everywhere around them as the weaponry was being fired. Jim didn't hesitate as he ran toward the jungle hoping for safety. He turned from behind a tree to witness the scene. Cannons were still being fired at the surviving crew members as they tried to gain shelter and not trip over other alien bodies lying dead on the sand.

"You!"

Jim turned to find Barbossa only three feet away staring straight at him, his gun aiming at Jim's forehead. His heart was pounding. He wasn't sure if he could take Barbossa on in a fight again, especially when he was sober. 'This is it,' he thought to himself as Barbossa inched closer, resting the tip of the pistol against his forehead.

"You led them here didn't ye' boy! You're going to pay for this-"

All of the sudden, a large, bright red claw, wrapped itself around Barbossa's neck and cut off his sentence. The gun dropped to the ground as Barbossa tried to pull the claw loose from his throat. It lifted Barbossa up a few feet in the air before it twisted and snapped his neck, quickly killing him. Jim watched in horror as the captain's body dropped to the ground with a thud and revealed the claw's owner.

"We meet again, Cabin Boy," Scroop said with an evil sneer.

Jim had to think fast. How in the world was he going to fight Scroop? He was barely able to defeat him before on the way to Treasure Planet. He was screwed. He looked down and saw Barbossa's pistol next to him. He swiftly picked it up off the ground and turned to find that his opponent had vanished.

Jack poked his head out from inside the barrel that he had been hiding in since he didn't hear anymore cannons hitting his ship. He scanned his surroundings, the ship was completely deserted. He awkwardly climbed out of the barrel and landed flat on the wooden floor of the deck. "Ow," he muttered, his face pressed against the ground. He then stood up and looked over the side to watch the scene below. He saw The Pearl's former crew trying to outrun and dodge cannons that were being fired at them from the I.S.U. "Well, time to go!" he said to himself as he quickly prepared his ship to hoist anchor and sail far away from this planet.

Jim scanned the tree tops above him, and the bushes around him. No sign of Spider Psycho anywhere. "Where are you, you ugly bug," he muttered, his heart pounding.

"Right here, boy," Scroop said as he slapped Jim in the back of the head with his claw. Jim toppled over onto the ground, his head throbbing. He turned over and saw Scroop standing above him. "I've been waiting so long for this," he snickered as he pinched his deadly claws over and over again.

As Scroop started to lean forward to strike, adrenaline rushed through Jim and in an instant, he used his arm to knock Scroop's legs off of the ground, making him lose his balance and fall into the bushes. Jim then, ignoring his head ache, jumped up and sprinted to the beach. He knew that Scroop wouldn't be able to hide out in the open.

As soon as Jim's boots hit the sand, one of Scroop's claws wrapped itself around Jim's neck, cutting off his air supply. Jim then remembered that he still had Jack's knife in his pocket from before. He took the knife out in a matter of seconds and drove it into the claw. Scroop released his grip and held his claw while he cursed from the pain.

Jim took in a huge gulp of air to refill his lungs as he landed back on the ground. Then, Jim suddenly noticed something else in his pocket. "Morph? Where have you been? I could've used you, you know," he said frustrated. But before the pink blob could answer, Scroop swung at Jim again. To everyone's surprise, Jim dodged it just in time, leaving the attacker angrier than before. He swung again and again, but Jim ducked and jumped just before his claws could touch him.

Even though he felt that he was winning, Jim knew how much danger he was in. Cannons were still firing on the beach which made it even more difficult to concentrate on Scroop's actions when sand was flying everywhere.

'That's it!' he thought. 'I can use the cannons!' After one more swing to duck under, Jim took off into the death zone. He jumped over bodies on the ground and dodged a few cannons, knowing that Scroop wasn't far behind. His lungs were burning as his legs were moving full speed across the slippery sand. He had to end this fast. 'I need to let him catch up,' he thought to himself, hoping that his plan would work. He started to slow his pace down and waited for Scroop to come closer.

Sure enough, the big spider was at Jim's heels in no time. 'Perfect,' Jim thought as he kept slowing down. He turned and led them toward the cannons again, but this time, he stopped dead in his tracks and waited.

"You're mine now, Cabin Boy!" Scroop sneered as he raised his claw in the air, ready to strike. All of the sudden, Jim fell face down in the sand, covering his head as if Scroop had already hit him. "Huh?" Scroop said. But before he could even look up, the cannon that Jim just dodged smashed into his spider-like body and sent him ten yards back, crashing hard into the sand.

Jim slowly stood up, not taking his eyes off his enemy. He hesitantly walked up to the spider to observe the damage. He looked dead, but just to be sure, he took the knife that was still in his hand and drove it through Scroop's heart.

"Morph!" he called to his pink friend. Morph traveled over from behind a tree where he had been hiding once he heard his name. "Can I use you for a minute, Buddy?" he asked.

"Yesyoucan, yesyoucan!" he chirped and waited for his job description.

"Can you go up to The Dauntless and tell them to send a boat down here to take the queen to safety?"

Morph nodded and transformed into a rocket that took off toward The Dauntless.

After about five minutes of searching, Jim found the mermaid in her tank at the edge of the jungle. Beside the tank were two dead aliens that must've been hit by a cannon, or debris, and made it as far as the edge of the trees before they died.

"Are you alright, Your Majesty?" Jim asked the beautiful creature.

"Yes," she said softly. "I'm alright."

"Good. The Dauntless should be sending a team down to take us to safety in a few minutes," he informed her.

Just as he said the words, a longboat carrying at least ten men landed on the shore to bring the queen and her rescuer back home.


	9. Chapter 8: Reuniting

Chapter 8: Reuniting

Jim looked at the night sky above him as The Dauntless prepared to hoist it's anchor. It was moving much too fast. They needed to leave quickly otherwise, years might pass on the other side of this atmosphere.

He turned to look at Father Time's castle, remembering how he thought he would never see it again. As he was about to look away, he noticed something different on one of the towers. When he looked closer, he saw that it was Father Time standing on a balcony, watching the visitors leave his planet. His white beard was the give away and his blue pointy hat helped as well. Jim couldn't see his face, but judging by his personality, Father Time would not be pleased with so much death on his planet. Not to mention the fact that Jim and Alice had promised to never come back so that the planet would stay hidden. It was then that Jim realized why only the sky above him was moving so fast, and everywhere else it was normal. This was his punishment. Time. How much time was he taking away from him? Weeks? Months? Years? As The Dauntless flew back into space, Jim figured out how much time had gone by.

_Alice was having a nightmare. The same nightmare she had since she was a child. She was peering out of a crack in the side of the barrel where she was hiding from the pirates that were taking her family. Only this time, it wasn't her parents that she saw out of the crack. It was Jim. Tears were streaming down her face as she saw the ship she had been on sailing away with her love. Then she heard it. A gunshot fired and Alice felt her heart snap in half as she saw Jim fall cold and lifeless onto the hard deck._

Alice woke up screaming. This wasn't unusual especially since she had convinced herself that he had died. She came up with many different scenarios of how it happened, but her nightmares made them harder to bare.

The I.S.U. had told her 2 months was the maximum amount of time that would pass before they would return. They told her that eight months ago. She sat up in her empty bed and wiped her tears from her face. Why was she still crying? Crying wasn't going to bring him back to life. Nothing would bring him home. Not even time.

"Ow," she said as she felt the baby kick. She waited patiently for the kicks to stop. "Aren't you tired already?" she asked her unborn child after about a minute. She rubbed her tummy and hummed a lullaby until the baby finally stopped and Alice could relax again. "I'm so happy I still have you," she said to her baby. She saw the sun coming up through the window and then decided to get up and help Sarah.

Jim's mother wasn't coping well with Jim's absence either and they often comforted each other to get through the days. Though it was never really enough, the effort of distracting each other from him worked for a while. But Alice's growing tummy wasn't helping the memories go away.

Alice got dressed and walked downstairs. She saw her mother-in-law already starting to cook breakfast. "Good morning, Sarah," she greeted softly as she pulled the plates from the cupboard.

"Good morning, Alice," Sarah replied. Her voice was tired and she had dark circles under her eyes from no sleep. Alice hadn't looked in a mirror yet but she was positive she looked almost identical.

Alice set the plates down on the table and started to help Sarah with the cooking portion. Her skills in the kitchen had increased greatly since that was the skill she would practice to pass the time.

When they were finished cooking, Sarah went upstairs to fetch the others. Alice sat in her usual spot and waited for the rest of her family to come down the stairs.

"Good morning, Alice!" B.E.N. said as he sat down next to her and started to stir the oil in his cup. "Good morning B.E.N." she said with a fake smile. B.E.N. had lost track of both The Dauntless and Jim as soon as they entered Never land's atmosphere. It wasn't his fault, but it was still a hard thing for her to get over.

Silver sat down in silence, as usual, and didn't wait for anything before he started to eat his food. They all at it silence as the minutes passed by. When they finished, B.E.N. took everyone's plate and went to the sink to was the dishes.

"Wait!" Jim yelled after the hover bus who was closing the doors. The bus driver stopped and waited for him to catch up. As he entered the bus full of aliens, he smiled and thanked the bus driver for stalling.

He walked down the aisle and found an open seat at the back of the bus. He sat down and looked out the window at the familiar landscape. Morph traveled up from Jim's pocket and rested on his left shoulder closer to the window to look at the pretty colors that would pass by. Jim took a deep breath as the bus took off. There were five different stops on the way back to the Benbow Inn. Only five more stops until he could see his family again; until he could see Alice again. He wondered what they might have thought happened to him? Did they think that he had abandoned them like his father? Did they think he was dead? Would they accept him? Would they be angry with him for taking so long to return?

He didn't want to spend that much time apart from them. It was his punishment for leading the pirates to the secret planet. He wasn't even aware until they started their journey home. When they first left Never land, he realized that six months had passed in the short time that they had been on the planet. It took them a month to get there, and a month to get back, so eight months had passed since he had last seen his family. Eight months. They must hate him for leaving for so long. Or maybe they miss him as much as he missed them.

He wondered how much had changed since he was gone. Jim smiled as he thought of how big Alice's belly would be, since she was almost nine months pregnant now. He thought about the huge hug he would get from B.E.N. and the big slap on the back from Silver. He was anxious to hug his mother again. Aside from Alice, he missed his mother the most. His heart started pounding as he anticipated finally seeing Alice again; to see her beautiful face, to hold her close to him, to run his fingers through her curly hair, that was all he wanted. To be with her again.

All of the sudden, he heard Morph chirping away excitedly at him, pointing to the signs with his stubby arms. Jim was so caught up in his thoughts, that he didn't even realize that he was only one stop away.

The rest of the day at the inn went by slowly, but this was normal for Alice. She no longer expected anything fast. There was no speeding solar surfer flying by the window anymore. No more last minute plans. No more spur of the moment events. Not since Jim had been gone.

It was a simple rescue mission. The I.S.U. was supposed to stop Captain Barbossa and his crew from reaching the Fountain of Youth and in doing so, save the queen of Atlantica along with Jim. They had promised to return in two months. No one ever returned. Alice swept the inn silently as she thought about her husband who would never come home.

Just then, she heard the roar of an engine coming to the Benbow Inn's port. She rushed to the window and saw the hover-bus stop at the port. It hadn't stopped there since Jim had used it. The doors of the bus opened and Alice's heart was pounding against her chest. Could it be him? Could he be alive? She watched like a hawk as she saw the familiar pair of black boots ascend down the steps and land on the wooden pier.

"Sarah!" she screamed. She needed to know she wasn't going crazy. She refused to take her eyes off of her husband as her mother-in-law ran to the window as well. "Do you see him or am I going crazy?" she asked.

Sarah started to cry. "I see him, Sweet-heart! Run!"

Alice didn't hesitate. She dropped the broom and practically kicked down the door of the inn. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her and her pregnant belly. Her vision was blurred from her tears but she could still see him. She could still see his smile and his outstretched arms as he waited for her. She didn't slow down. She didn't dare to, or he would be father away. She ran and ran and finally jumped into his arms. He spun her around multiple times before he finally set her down. Alice's body was shaking from her sobs. She wouldn't let go of her husband. Not now. Not when she finally got him back.

"Alice, it's okay. I'm home," he whispered. The sound of his voice was angelic and she buried her face in his chest, refusing to let go. He stroked her back to calm her down. He continued to talk in her ear since it seemed to relax her.

When she finally stopped shaking, she was able to let go of his embrace. Morph hurried over and started licking her cheek. "Morph!" she laughed. "I missed you, little guy!" Morph chirped happily in reply and then darted toward the inn to greet everyone else.

Alice turned her attention back to Jim. She smiled widely at her husband with tears still streaming down her cheeks. "You're really here!" she cried.

His blue eyes started to tear up. "Of course I am. Where else would I be?"

Alice started to laugh at herself. "I thought you had died," she admitted.

Jim took her face in his hands and wiped the tears away. "You can't get rid of me that easily." He then pulled her face to his and kissed her lips longingly.

Alice's heart raced and her knees began to buckle. She had forgotten what it was like to be kissed by Jim. She missed it so much. She wasn't going to let this moment go to waste. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. He couldn't get close enough due to one little barrier.

Jim broke the kiss and gently put his hand on her belly. "There's something blocking me," he joked. Then he started to chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" Alice asked.

"I guess that's my fault anyway," he said, still laughing.

Alice giggled. "You're right about that!"

Jim's laughing died down as he raised his hand back to her face and stroked her cheek. "I've missed you, so much," he said with a smile.

"You have no idea," Alice said as she pulled him into her embrace, pressing her face into his chest. She still couldn't believe it. Jim was alive and he was home. He was in her arms again, like he had never left. Her bed wouldn't be empty anymore. The empty place at the table would be full again. Their child wouldn't grow up without a father. She was happier than she had ever been in her entire life. Nothing could take him away from her now. Not one thing.

On the short walk back to the inn, Jim was greeted by the rest of his family.

"Jim!" Sarah cried as she ran out and hugged her son with all her might. "I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you too mom," Jim said as he returned his mother's hug.

"Jimbo!"

"Jimmy!" B.E.N. and Silver's voices came from inside the inn and within seconds, the two were outside joining the hug. Jim was almost squished.

"Can't…breath…" he managed to say. They let go and each greeted him the way he had imagined. B.E.N. was talking a million miles a minute about his adventure with Alice at the I.S.U. headquarters while Silver asked if he wanted a drink and his mother sniffed him and told him that he needed a shower. "Okay, okay, one at a time guys. And can we go inside first? I'm hungry!"

After a few hours of catching up, laughing, and eating, Jim and Alice were able to break away from the family to catch up themselves.

"I didn't know you could cook like that," Jim said as they entered their room.

"I've had a while to practice," Alice replied with a smile.

Jim laughed. "Well my mom is right. I need to shower. I smell like a dead cow after three days of baking in the sun. I'll be back," he said as he kissed her forehead and walked into the bathroom.

Alice changed into her long nightgown and sat on the bed as she combed her unruly hair while she waited for her husband to finish up.

When the bathroom door swung open, Jim was leaning against the door in a seductive manner with nothing but a towel on. "I feel…much better," he said with a wink.

Alice couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing so hard she fell back onto the bed, fighting for air.

Jim frowned. "What?" he asked.

Alice calmed herself down to just slight giggles. "I guess I just wasn't expecting that the first night you came home," she replied. "Plus, it's just funny to see you try to be sexy."

Jim chuckled. "Whatever. If you weren't pregnant, you'd be all over me right now," he said as he walked over to the dresser to get his pajamas.

Right as Jim turned his back to her to get his clothes, Alice gasped at the sight of his scars.

Jim turned around. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Your back! What happened?" she asked, horrified at the sight of his scarred back..

"Oh," he sighed. "Hang on a second," he said as he dug through the drawers for his clothes. As soon as he was dressed, he sat down next to her and told her everything. He told her about the whipping, about the rest of the trip to Never land, his battle with Scroop, even the trip back to Montressor with the I.S.U. "But none of that matters anymore because I'm home with you again," he said with a smile. "And this little one," he said poking her baby bump.

Alice giggled, but quickly frowned. "Ow!" she said looking down at her stomach. She looked back at her husband. "Sorry, the baby just started kicking again. I think my rib cage is going to be bruised for the rest of my life," she joked.

Jim gently put his hand on the bump. The kicking quickly died down until it finally stopped, much faster than normal.

Alice looked up at her husband, her eyes wide with shock. "It never stops that fast! It takes at least five minutes or more when I try to calm it down!" she exclaimed.

Jim laughed. "Looks like he or she already has a favorite parent," he teased.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said.

"You're just jealous," he teased.

"Hardly," she said as she leaned in for a kiss. Jim quickly caught on and in an instant, his lips were on hers. Alice was grateful that she was already sitting down, because this kiss would've made her lose feeling in her legs and collapse. Once Alice could catch her breath and somewhat focus, she returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around him to pull him closer. She wanted to stay like this forever. She missed this affection much more than she thought and she didn't want it to end. But Jim pulled away much sooner than she wished. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"I need to control myself," he laughed.

Alice giggled. "I agree. But this whole pregnancy thing stinks. I'm glad it won't be too long before we can continue this," she teased.

Jim laughed again. "Alright well I'm tired anyway so I'm going to get some sleep. Are you going back downstairs?" he asked her as he unfolded the covers.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not leaving your side! I just got you back! I'm staying here," she said with a "humph."

Jim chuckled at his wife, "You're adorable," he said as he kissed her one more time.

After they slid under their covers and finally laid next to each other after all of this time, it took them hours of talking and snuggling before one of them eventually fell asleep.

Jim looked down at his wife who was sleeping soundly. The dark circles under her eyes were slowly fading and her hair was showing just a few strands of grey. Her face was shallow and her skin was pale. She was still beautiful, but she looked tortured. She had told him about how long the eight months had been for her and how she had missed him. She had thought that he'd died. He tried to think about how he would react if the tables were turned. He wouldn't be able to bare it, he knew that for a fact. He imagined all the pain that she must have went through while he was gone and it scared him.

He reached over and stroked her hair, which was barely holding the once bouncy curls. He then leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry love," he whispered.

She must've heard him because she snuggled up closer to him and rested her head on his chest to let him know 'It's okay.'

About an hour of silence went by until Jim's thoughts slowed down and he finally fell asleep dreaming about the rest of their lives together.


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue

_"Surprise!" Everyone cheered as Alice walked downstairs._

_ "Oh my goodness!" she squealed as she saw all the decorations around the inn. They consisted of baby blue and light pink tablecloths, balloons, and streamers. "What is all of this?" she asked in bewilderment._

_ "It's your surprise baby shower," Sarah explained in delight that the surprise part worked._

_ "Oh you guys are so sweet!" Alice said as she ascended down the remainder of the steps and gave them all hugs._

_ "It was Jimmy's idea!" B.E.N. said as she approached him._

_ She turned to Jim with a smile. "You planned this?"_

_ Jim blushed and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Yes I did," he stated proudly. "Our son could come any day now and I wanted you to have a proper baby shower before he arrives."_

_ Alice laughed. "We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet," she reminded him. "That's why there are blue _and_ pink decorations."_

_ Jim pouted. "Fine, but I still think it's a boy!"_

_ Alice rolled her eyes and laughed at her husband's stubbornness._

_ The party continued as planned. Everyone enjoyed Silver's cake and snacks, Sarah shared some of Jim's baby stories for entertainment, and Alice was completely unaware of Jim's last surprise. While she was busy chatting with Sarah, Jim gave Silver the signal and the two quietly left the room._

_ "Where did Jim go?" Alice asked once their conversation had brought him up and she noticed his absence. At that moment, Jim and Silver came in through the door carrying a baby crib. Alice gasped. "It's so beautiful!"_

_ The crib was made of wood, completely crafted by hand. There were little planet and galaxy designs carved into the headboard and around the sides of it. It was everything Alice could have imagined._

_ "Did you make this?" she asked Jim._

_ He nodded proudly and rubbed his hands over the smooth surface of his masterpiece._

_ Alice stood up and gave him a big hug. "I love it!" she said. She was still smiling when he thanked her with a kiss. All of the sudden, Alice's face suddenly transformed into a look of pain as she grasped her stomach._

_ "Alice, what's wrong?" Jim panicked._

_ Alice looked up at him returning his panic. "I think my water just broke!"_

_Hours later_

_ "It's a girl!" Sarah exclaimed as she wrapped up the screaming newborn._

_ "Yes! I knew it!" Jim cried as he carefully picked up his daughter._

_ "No you didn't. You thought it was a boy," Sarah corrected._

_ "What are you talking about?" he teased. Alice sighed and leaned back against the bed with her eyes closed, exhausted from just giving birth. "Hi Sweetheart!" Jim cooed at the baby. Her crying started to slow at her father's voice. Jim observed his little daughter. She had light brown patches of hair on her head and big blue eyes. Jim couldn't tell who she resembled more, due to the fact that she was only minutes old. He started to tear up as she wrapped her whole hand around his finger. "Alice! Look!" he whispered._

_ Alice looked up and smiled. "See, she already loves you," she told her husband. _

_ Jim was beaming with happiness. All of the stress of being a father floated away like a cloud. "Well I love you too, little one," he said as he kissed his daughter's forehead._

_ "Can I see her?" Alice asked. Jim obeyed and handed their child to her. Alice started to cry as she held her baby girl in her arms. "She's so beautiful!" she said as the baby stared at her mother._

_ "What are you going to name her?" Sarah asked the couple._

_ Alice and Jim looked at each other and back down at the child. "We don't know yet," Alice replied._

_ "That's alright. I'll go tell the others the news," Sarah said as she left the room._

_ Alice looked up at her husband. "What should we name her?" she asked._

_ Jim started to chuckle. That's up to you, love. I only came up with boy names."_

_ Alice started to laugh. "Of course you did!" she said. She looked back at her daughter. "What about Jane?" she suggested._

_ "Why Jane?" Jim asked._

_ Alice didn't look away from the baby. "When my sister and I were little, we had these dolls that we carried around with us everywhere we went. Her doll's name was Jane. I guess the name is kind of special to me."_

_ "What was your doll's name?" Jim asked curiously._

_ Alice smiled. "Emily," she replied._

_ "Then her name is Jane Emily Hawkins."_

_ All of the sudden, Jim heard the baby start crying softly, only when he looked down at her, she wasn't even upset. Then, the volume of the crying increased greatly until-_

Jim opened his eyes in the dark room to the sound of his daughter's faint crying in the other room. He looked over at his wife. She was slowly getting up to go calm the child. "Alice," he said to get her attention.

"What?" she asked as she turned around, revealing her disheveled hair, half opened eyes, and dried drool on her cheek.

"Don't worry about it. I'll go get her. You need to get some sleep," he informed her as he uncovered the warm blankets and stepped onto the cold floor.

Alice didn't hesitate to plop onto bed face first into her pillow. She was completely drained from getting absolutely no sleep for the past three months since the baby was born. When Jim opened the door, he peeked back at Alice and was envious of the fact that she was already asleep. He then went into the other room where his daughter was crying.

He took a bottle of milk off the cabinet outside her bedroom and took it inside. He went over to the crib and took the infant in his arms. "Shhh…" he cooed, half asleep. Her crying died down as he fed her the milk. He looked down at his daughter, remembering his dream. "You know Jane," he whispered. "Your mommy and I need sleep at some point tonight. I was having a great dream until someone woke me up."

The infant just stared back at his with her big, blue eyes as she drank her milk.

"That doesn't mean anything to you huh?" he asked.

She burped up milk in reply.

He chuckled and wiped the vomit from her face and her little nightgown. "Of course not," he said as he sat down in the rocking chair next to her crib. He looked down at her again and noticed that she was still wide awake. "What is it going to take for you to fall asleep?" he asked.

Jane just stared up at him, but this time she smiled a toothless grin and started waving her arms around excitedly.

"Oh you want a story?"

A little squeal came out of the three-month-old and her grin reached both her ears.

"Okay, Okay calm down. This is supposed to make you fall asleep remember?" he said and she obeyed.

Even though Daddy wasn't very descriptive, she loved to hear the stories that he told her almost every night. She couldn't wait to hear this one.

"Once upon a time," he started and Jane was already silent and focused on her daddy's story. "A knight was just roaming around his kingdom when he found a magic portal that took him into the future where he met a beautiful princess. They became really good friends over a couple days. But the knight had to return to his kingdom because he knew his mommy would be very worried. So the princess decided to go back in time with him and they had so much fun. Over the next couple days, the knight started to fall in love with the princess, and the princess was falling in love with the knight!"

Jane squealed because she knew they were going to fall in love. "But they didn't dare tell each other, for they feared that the other person didn't feel the same way," Jane stopped squealing and her brow furrowed. Why didn't they just say something to each other? They both felt the same way. This was frustrating.

Jim chuckled at his daughters reactions. "One day, while the knight was visiting the king's castle, a little fairy named Tinker Belle told the princess that she had to go see Father Time in Never land because she needed to return to the future or it could ruin the time space continuum. Well the princess wasn't happy about that. She wanted to stay with the knight forever. So she planned on negotiating with Father Time about staying. Guess what Father Time told her to do," he said.

Jane's eyes were wide open as she wondered what was going to happen next.

"The princess had to eat a poisoned apple and wait for the knight to come rescue her. Of course, the knight came as quickly as he could but he had trouble finding the castle so he got some help from Peter Pan and the lost boys. They were really nice and told him everything he needed to know. So he went to the castle and learned that he had to fight a dragon before he could get to the princess! The dragon was huge and breathed fire and had really big teeth."

Jane's eyes were full of fright at the sound of the scary beast.

"But the knight was strong and brave and he defeated the dragon so that he could find the princess. He looked everywhere in the big castle and couldn't find her. Then Tinker Belle came and showed him where she was. When he finally found where the princess was sleeping, he leaned forward and-"

This was Jane's favorite part!

"-and he kissed her right on the lips! Then she woke up and told her knight that she loved him and the knight told her that he loved her too. When Father Time saw how much they loved each other, he let them stay together and they lived happily ever after! The end!"

Jane waved her arms and squealed with joy. They had lived happily ever after! She loved when that happened. How could she go to sleep now, like Daddy wanted, when she was so excited about the end?

"Okay now you're way too excited. You need to sleep, little one," he said as he carried her over to the crib and set her down.

Jane looked up at her father and realized what was happening. She immediately started to cry again.

"Oh no," Jim groaned. "Jane please stop crying." He picked her up and went back to the rocking chair. "This happens every time. I need to stop telling you stories or you'll want to go to Never land someday yourself."

Jane's crying slowed as her father hummed the same lullaby that her mommy always hummed. Her eyes started to get heavy as the song progressed. About five minutes later, Jane finally fell asleep in her father's arms.

Jim carefully and quietly carried her over to the crib and set her down on her little pillow. He quietly walked out of the room and down the hallway to where his wife was sleeping. When he crawled back into bed, he was surprised to see Alice looking up at him. "I thought you were asleep, love," he said as he stroked her hair.

"I overheard your story," she replied with a smile.

Jim smiled back. "What did you think of it, my beautiful princess?"

She giggled and gave him a quick kiss. "I think my knight-in-shining-armor should tell his stories more often." She then snuggled up next to him and laid her head on his chest. Within a few minutes, both of them were fast asleep.


End file.
